At its best and simplest, shortbread is made using a classic 1:2:3 ratio – one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour, by weight. Perhaps unsurprisingly, few supermarket shortbreads stick to that golden rule and include other ingredients such as cornflour and raising agents; they’re nothing to worry about – but some cut the butter (and costs) by using rapeseed oil, margarine or worse.
Unlike most manufactured products, however, the price of shortbread doesn’t always reflect the level of processing, and some of the cheapest are also the least processed. Look out for “all-butter” on the label, to make sure the shortbread doesn’t include oil and has that classic, buttery taste. And don’t be fooled by fancy packaging.
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The best supermarket shortbread
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Best overall:
Walker’s shortbread Highlanders
£2.50 for 160g at Morrisons (£1.56/100g)
£2.85 for 160g at Waitrose (£1.78/100g)
★★★★☆
A round, characterful shortbread hand-rolled in crunchy demerara sugar. Sweet with a firm bite and a crunchy, short texture. Buttery, delicious and a refreshingly simple recipe – just flour, butter, sugar and salt – that’s been baked in Aberlour since 1898.
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Best bargain:
Lidl Deluxe Scottish all-butter shortbread fingers
£1.39 for 160g at Lidl (87p/100g), in store only
★★★★☆
A slab of light golden brown shortbread, lightly scored and ready to snap. Baked by family bakery Duncan’s of Deeside. Sweet with a brilliant, crumbly, short texture and a lovely, buttery flavour. A simple recipe and excellent value.
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And the rest …
Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream shortbread
£7 for 200g at Ocado (£3.50/100g)★★★★☆
A novelty tin shaped like a milk churn and containing round, pale biscuits glistening with caster sugar. A wonderfully simple ingredients list, with the addition of clotted cream. A firmer, crunchier texture than most, with a neutral, sweet, creamy flavour.
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M&S Collection Scottish all-butter shortbread fingers
£2.75 for 165g at Ocado (£1.67/100g)★★★★☆
A rustic slab with deep golden brown fingers. Made by a family-owned bakery in Aberdeenshire. Includes semolina, giving this a noticeably fine, crumbly texture and a classic, sweet, neutral flavour.
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Co-op Irresistible all-butter shortbread rounds
£3.20 for 180g at Co-op (£1.78/100g)★★★★☆
Perfect, pale shortbread rounds with a soft, curved edge and evenly topped with caster sugar. Very sweet with a firm, but classic short texture and good, buttery flavour. Made without unnecessary additives.
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Belmont all-butter shortbread fingers
89p for 210g at Aldi (42p/100g), in store only★★★☆☆
These are how I remember shortbread from my childhood: individual bars, like gold, dusted with caster sugar, in thin wrappers. A firm bite, a distinctive, buttery flavour and a simple recipe.
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Exceptional by Asda all-butter shortbread fingers
£2.44 for 165g at Asda (£1.48/100g)★★★☆☆
A rustic block, scored into fingers to be snapped off one by one. Baked in Scotland with classic ingredients, plus some maize starch. Marvellously short, crumbly and delicious.
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Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Scottish shortbread fingers
£2.50 for 160g at Sainsbury’s (£1.56/100g)★★★☆☆
A large, flat slab sprinkled with caster sugar. Perfectly short and crumbly, if a touch sandy, with a classic, buttery flavour and very sweet. Made with British wheat flour and raising agent ammonium carbonates to create a more open crumb.
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Hebridean Baker heather honey shortbread
£4.20 for 150g at Ocado (£2.80/100g)★★☆☆☆
A beautiful, dark golden brown, round shortbread with a ruffled top. A very short, fine texture with a dominant honey flavour, but surprisingly the butter is cut with a margarine made with palm oil, emulsifiers and colouring.
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Paterson’s classic shortbread fingers
£1.25 for 300g at Morrisons (42p/100g) £1.50 for 300g at Tesco (50p/100g)★☆☆☆☆
Two packets of pale shortbread fingers in a large box. A noticeably fine texture and firm bite, crumbly but smooth, and with a Farley’s rusk-like taste of powdered milk. Contains rapeseed oil and flavourings.
